It's Friday and I Finally Finished ...

Not the whole quilt, but at least the stars.  The stars went very quickly once I started.  I don't think they would have gone this quickly way back when I picked this pattern and started that one block.  I have learned a lot since then and I think my quilts are coming together faster and more accurately.  If there was a turning point I would have to say it was following following Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville blog and then attending the Bonnie Hunter Smith Mountain Morning class.  I started to really put into practice what I had read and seen and it all clicked.

So after just 2 weeks I have gone from here to finishing the 32 stars.  Amazing productivity for me.  Now to start on the blue alternating blocks.  But I really need to quilt the pink & purple baby quilt.  It is headed to Guatemala for a future niece and I have to get it done in time to get there.

See some other finishes at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
and Crazy Mom Quilts. 

Design Wall Monday 012714

I am continuing with the red, white and blue quilt.  It's start can be seen here.

These stars are addictive.  I cut pieces out of most of the reds I had tucked away with this UFO.  Plus some of my mother's reds.  Same with the whites.  I did a few trial blocks to find which way works best for me to do the flying geese units, since I have not made any of them in a long time.  Now that I have it down to a system I am sewing 2 blocks together at a time.  They "lead & end" each other.  Then between every 2 blocks I get in the real leader & ender project - 2" squares for Dancing Nine Patch by Bonnie Hunter.

I really like the scrappy star points.  If I ever did this again I would do something more interesting in the block center.  But since it is a UFO and I am following the pattern - more or less - I will stick with the solid center for now.  That 5" square just looks like a blank canvas waiting to be played upon!  Next time.  I am definitely a much more scrappy quilter than when I started this 4 years ago.

The quinceanos quilt that is covering the design wall waiting for more signature blocks to come in is slowly being covered.  I like these red stars so much I don't want to just stack them up.  I don't have much wall space and the room has been added to and rearranged since I put up the design wall and now I can't really reach it.  So figuring that out seems like it should be a project too.

The pattern calls for 32 red stars.  I have 20 done - including the non-scrappy original block.  I had thought maybe I would unsew it and make it scrappy, but now I just think it will get included as is.

Go see some other Design Walls at Patchwork Times.

What's on Your Bed?

Jo threw out this question and since I had just remade 2 of the beds I knew exactly what was on the beds.  We are trying to get back to normal from Middle E having the flu and being quarantined upstairs and Little S sleeping on the couch/with us downstairs.

The quilts are mixed up since there is a huge batch waiting to be washed.  Even with the super cold weather we are having now there should still be enough layers to keep us warm.  It feels like the heat is not keeping up, which makes me very thankful we are in north Florida and not in north anywhere else.

Middle E has the quilt my MIL made for Little S at least 4 years ago.  No label.  I should know better.

She did not want to get out of bed, but didn't want to be in the picture. So it is 3/4s of a quilt!

Little S has the high heel quilt my mother made for Middle E about 4 years ago.  She embroidered E's name on several of the high heels.  I will have to look closely and see if there is a date as well.

I have the Smith Mountain Morning quilt that was mentioned here.  It is staying on my bed forever!

Head on over to Jo's Country Junction to see what's on some other beds!

Stash Report 011214

My helper was barely able to hold it in the wind.

Some change since last week.  Got the borders on!!!

For the backing I have a plan to use some white & pink flowery fabrics that I have tucked away since I am a packrat and save everything!  I know I will not use it for anything else since I don't even like them, so in my effort to use it up this year I will use them in a pieced backing.


Since it seems to take me a good while to finish things due to lots of demands for my time, I thought about how to report fabric used.  If I wait until a project is all done progress will be so slow I will probably be frustrated.  I know that this is not the time in my life for lots of sewing, so I am content with sewing in short bursts as I am able.  So I decided that to see progress I would report fabric as used when that step in the overall project is finished.  So this week I can report the borders as done and fabric used.

Fabric Used: 1.2 yards from stash for pink/purple baby quilt borders - plain & piano keys
Fabric Bought: 0 yards
Total Used 2014: 3.5 yards

I have never before stopped to do the math - even though I really do love math - on total fabric used to make a quilt.  It is amazing to me that all those little squares and triangles and rectangles added up to 3.5 yards.  Good thing it was all from stash - but I can't even tell it is gone!!

The design is just 16 squares of Bonnie Hunter's Tumalo Trail from her book Scraps & Shirttails II.

Check out how others are doing with their stash at Patchwork Times.

It's Friday and I Finally Finished It!

Smith Mountain Morning

Definitely my biggest project to date. It only took 14 months, which for me is pretty good.  I drove 4 hours to Aiken, SC to participate in Bonnie Hunter's Smith Mountain Morning class.  A gift to me for my 50th.  So glad I did.  Learned so many tips and tricks and just had a wonderful time.

When I tested it on my bed - when I was "finished" - I discovered that 2 more rows on either side would have been a better fit.  But the borders were on and I just didn't have 18 more blocks in me anyways.  I had already enlarged it to 81 blocks.  Too big for me to quilt, so another gift to me was having a professional longarmer quilt it.  Another good decision.  Used it on the bed without binding it for over a month.  As soon as my Christmas break started I sewed the binding on and was ready for hand stitching it down while sitting around with family.

Guess I didn't sit around socializing enough because the binding was still not all stitched down in time for a Friday finish last week.  Even unfinished it was put to use on these unusually cold Florida nights.  Look what I found when I spread it out!!  A leader/ender for a pink & purple version of Tumulo Trail also found in the Scraps & Shirttails II.  There is never a lull in the life of a quilter!

Got it finished over the weekend.  Just in time since my vacation was over.  A huge finish.

Smith Mountain Morning  90 x 90

Check some other Friday finishes at confessions of a fabric addict.

Design Wall Monday

Well, it's a design floor, but you get the idea.

Working on the piano key borders for my baby size Tumalo Trail. I've got one side pinned so I am making progress, but headed back to work today after the Christmas break, so not sure when this will get worked on again.  Full size pattern can be found in Bonnie Hunter's book Scraps & Shirttails II.

Check out what other quilters are working on at Patchwork Times.